Robert de Visée

Robert de Visée was a masterly player of Baroque string instruments, including lute, five-string guitar, theorbo, and viola da gamba, and one of the key Baroque composers for guitar. Little can be confirmed of his early life, but it is generally assumed he was born circa 1655 in France. During the 1680s, he became a chamber musician for Louis XIV. In 1709 he was made a Royal Chamber Singer and in 1719 became Guitar Master of the King for the young Louis XV. De Visée was a highly respected player, but it is his compositions that have assured his immortality. Viewed in retrospect, they display his modernist outlook, breaking with period structural and phrasing conventions. In 1682 and 1686, he published a total of two dozen guitar suites, a number of which have become staples of Baroque guitar repertoire, especially the Suite in D Minor. This was brought back into vogue by Spanish guitarist/composer Emilio Pujol’s transcription, leading to a revival of interest in de Visée that has continued to the present day.